[Click eStock] "JYP Entertainment Confirms Artist Development Capability with NiziU... Investment Rating Up"

NH Investment & Securities Report
Reflecting NiziU's Performance... Target Stock Price Up 109%

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] NH Investment & Securities raised its investment opinion on JYP Entertainment to "Buy" on the 8th, stating that the export capability of its artist development system was confirmed through NiziU, and set the target price at 46,000 KRW, up 109% from the previous level.

JYP Entertainment's sales in the fourth quarter are expected to be 43.8 billion KRW, down 1% year-on-year. Operating profit is forecasted to decrease by 3% to 13.1 billion KRW. Hwa-Jeong Lee, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, explained, "Although the absence of concerts due to COVID-19 is inevitable, the effect of the artists' album releases will be fully reflected."

This year, JYP Entertainment is expected to improve its performance through NiziU. NiziU's revenue, except for some MD (merchandise), is expected to be reflected in the first half of this year.

The buzz around NiziU is similar to the timing of TWICE's entry into the Japanese market. When TWICE officially debuted in Japan in 2018, two singles and one full album for the Japanese market were released. Based on initial sales, singles sold an average of 260,000 copies, and the full album sold 180,000 copies. In the second half of the year, they held an arena tour, and the company's operating profit increased by about 10 billion KRW compared to the previous year.

NiziU's first single initial sales reached 310,000 copies, which is 120% compared to TWICE's entry into Japan. Researcher Hwa-Jeong Lee projected, "Even if concert tours are not possible this year, if they carry out activities including two singles and one full album at the level of TWICE in 2018, operating profit of over 10 billion KRW will be recorded from albums and merchandise alone."

JYP Entertainment's mid- to long-term competitiveness lies in its capability to export its artist development system. It is expected that cases will continue where trainees selected locally are trained through the company's development system and then localized content is applied to achieve success. The researcher added, "A Chinese boy group will debut in the second half of the year," and said, "Considering the export capability of the system, the investment environment has improved."